The Top 7...Big Bosses

We count off the most gigantic goons we've ever gutted

Ah, bosses! How we love their layered life bars, cheap super-attacks and exposed weak points. It's the rules that games have to have them, so in this roll-call we look atseven titans that really threw their weight around.

These are some of the biggest of the big, deserving of their boss status by barely fitting on the screen, let alone playing unfair.

7. The Hydra, God of War, (PS2, 2005)

In a game that does everything big, you expect some mighty bosses, but what you don't expect is one to show its gigantic face - well, three faces - five minutes into God of War's opening stretch.

You're constantly reminded of the Hydra's presence throughout the level and yet you'll probably still stifle a nervous whimper when you clamber up the final shipwreck for the showdown.

Ah, bosses! How we love their layered life bars, cheap super-attacks and exposed weak points. It's the rules that games have to have them, so in this roll-call we look atseven titans that really threw their weight around.

These are some of the biggest of the big, deserving of their boss status by barely fitting on the screen, let alone playing unfair.

7. The Hydra, God of War, (PS2, 2005)

In a game that does everything big, you expect some mighty bosses, but what you don't expect is one to show its gigantic face - well, three faces - five minutes into God of War's opening stretch.

You're constantly reminded of the Hydra's presence throughout the level and yet you'll probably still stifle a nervous whimper when you clamber up the final shipwreck for the showdown.

Above: With two more heads and massive mouths where this one came from, the Hydra just won't quit.

Luckily, avenging badass Kratos is made of sterner stuff and doesn't raise an eyebrow in the process of prising his way out of its jaws, nailing two of its heads to the deck and impaling the final one on a broken mast.